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The Mo Bamba era in Orlando continues.
Bamba, an unrestricted free agent after the Magic declined to give the former No. 6 pick a qualifying offer, agreed to a two-year, $21 million deal, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
Free agent center Mo Bamba has reached an agreement with the Orlando Magic on a two-year, $21 million deal, his agents Mark Bartelstein and Greer Love of @PrioritySports tell @YahooSports. https://t.co/Vs09sDBcOl
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 30, 2022
Bamba averaged career-highs of 10.6 points, 8.1 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game last season during his fourth year in the league. He also expanded his range, connecting on 38.1 percent of his 4.0 three-point attempts per game.
It seemed that the 24-year-old’s time in Orlando might have reached an end after the Magic opted not to extend a $10.1 million qualifying offer for the 2022-23 season that would have given the Magic the opportunity to match any offer Bamba received as a restricted free agent. That was followed by rumors of the Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets, New York Knicks and other teams expressing interest in Bamba.
The Magic locked up fellow big man Wendell Carter Jr. with a four-year, $50 million extension in October. Robin Lopez and Bol Bol are unrestricted free agents, and Moe Wagner’s $1.88 million salary for the upcoming season became guaranteed on Thursday.
But Jeff Weltman and John Hammond were not yet ready to move on from the second lottery pick the duo made with the Magic, barring a potential subsequent move involving Bamba, of course.
Not like this FO to set aside an asset they’ve previously invested so much time (and draft capital) in developing.
— Orlando Pinstriped Post (@OPPMagicBlog) June 29, 2022
Something else could possibly in the works.
AG
Same team, new number for Bamba, who will change from No. 5 to No. 11 following the addition of first overall pick Paolo Banchero...
.@TheRealMoBamba has changed his number to 11, which he wore while in high school pic.twitter.com/PMOi0mqOFb
— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) June 24, 2022
More to come on Bamba and the rest of the Magic’s free agency moves...
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